By the time he returned to his home in Bogotá, Colombia, he had amassed a stunning body of photographic work. At its core was Acebes’s ability to describe his subjects, and his casual relationships with them, in ways that speak to us today. Some are amusing, others attractive, and a few startling. Most of his images, though, reassure us that it is possible to connect emotionally with other individuals, other cultures, and other times through photographs of great strength, beauty, and grace. Hector Acebes is now in his eighties. His work will be featured in a forthcoming book titled Hector Acebes: Portraits in Africa, 1948–1953. A traveling exhibition, Engaging the Camera: African Women, Portraits and the Photographs of Hector Acebes, will open at Spelman College Museum of Fine Arts, Atlanta, in 2004. Acebes also made several trips through northern South America during the 1950s, shooting stills and footage for his documentary films. Similar in quality and technical sophistication, that body of work will be published in upcoming seasons.
Hector Acebes made three trips to Africa after serving in Germany during World War II and completing his studies at MIT. The first was to North Africa in 1948. The second, in 1949, took him back to North Africa and then to northern West Africa and Mali, including Timbuktu and the Dogon region. In 1953, the third, and most extensive trip, lasted a year. Traveling alone in a Jeep with filmmaking and Rolleiflex camera equipment, he started in Dakar, Senegal, and ended his journey a year later on the Indian Ocean island of Zanzibar. During this trip he crossed much of French West Africa, including Guinea, Mali, Chad, and Cameroon, as well as Congo, Kenya, and Tanzania.
